Dawn Colclasure's Blog

Author and poet Dawn Colclasure

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Haunted Objects and Haunted Houses: New novel Imprint was inspired by both

One way that a writer gets ideas for things to write is
to ask the question, “What if?” Sometimes that question will be asked because of
something the writer overheard or something that they witnessed happening – or NOT
happening. (This is why writers like to people watch; we get ideas for things
to write just from observing what may or may not be happening with people!)
Sometimes, the writer is inspired by something they read. They’ll read
something and a light clicks on over their heads and they think, “That could be
a book.” Or, they’ll read about something and start to go, “Hmm. What if?”

That’s exactly what happened for me shortly after the
release of a book I co-wrote with Martha Jette. Totally Scared: The Complete
Book on Haunted Houses came about after I started writing a series of articles
about haunted houses for the The Shadowlands newsletter, and one chapter in that
book discusses haunted objects. It was Martha’s idea to include this in the
book and I enjoyed writing about the haunted mirror at the Myrtles Plantation
for that chapter. But after the book was published and I was rereading that
chapter, I was struck by an idea. I started to wonder, What if a haunted object
is inside of a haunted house? My guess was, That would take the hauntings in the
house up a notch!

I didn’t know it at the time, but my curiosity about this
planted the seeds of a story in to that writing workshop in my brain. The
novelist in me saw a story there – though I didn’t know what kind of story it
was just yet. The story actually came to me over the course of several months,
in bits and pieces here and there. The same was true of the characters. Like, I
would have a scene for the story pop into my head and I’d wonder, Who are these
people? Why are they saying these things or doing these things? What does that
tell me about them?

It took a long time, but eventually, the whole story came
to me in the end. I figured everything out and knew exactly what kind of story
this was I had growing in my brain all along.

So when National Novel Writing Month came around in 2008,
I sat down and started writing this story. I didn’t stop working on it until
the whole story was complete. I didn’t end up typing a 50,000-word masterpiece
for NaNoWriMo, however, but it was done. The story was complete – and that made
me one very satisfied writer.

Now, 9 years later, this book has finally been published.
What started out as a story I titled “The Haunted Carpet” is now published in
book form as “Imprint.”

But it took a while before that manuscript got whipped
into shape for publication!

At first, I wasn’t sure if I should try sending it out
for publication, because I thought it would get a lot of criticism. “Why did
you set it in Eugene?” might be one response I got. (I set all of my novels in
places where I have lived – though the first novel, November’s Child (which
later became Shadow of Samhain, was set in Washington as a fluke because, at
that time, I didn’t have a system for where I set my stories and I just closed
my eyes and pointed at a map to decide on where to set that one). Another
criticism I thought the book might get was, “Oh, geez! ANOTHER haunted house
story!” Or, “Another ghost story!” (Well, why not?) Or maybe people would think
it was too predictable or boring or just lame.

But then I decided not to worry about the criticism the
book might receive. I had written another novel, gosh darn it! It deserved a
fighting chance! Let some publisher decide whether or not this manuscript gets
to be a book!

But before I could send the book out, I had work to do. I
had to revise the manuscript first. Then I had to do some fact-checking. One of
the characters in this story is in the business of flipping houses and selling
them, so I had to ask someone I knew about certain technicalities about that.
Also, at the time, one of my cousins was working as a real estate agent, so I
had to ask her for info, too. A paranormal investigation group checks out the
haunted house in the story, so I contacted someone I’d interviewed for another
book who is a paranormal investigator and ran things by her for this book, too.
And since I couldn’t figure out something on the website for the local
newspaper, I had to contact someone there who could help me out. (My character
ends up doing that exact same thing in the story. Ha!)

Then, once that was done, I took the manuscript through
more rounds of revisions, edits, and more revisions. I changed the names of the
twins because I didn’t think I should name them “Frannie and Annie” (thanks to
my friends for sharing their thoughts on the new names!), and the ending was
changed, as well. I also had to do research on some other things.

Oh, and I got rid of the Prologue. I was told by a beta
reader that it was probably better to keep it out.

And, actually, here is the original Prologue! It is unedited
and unrevised so please excuse the crappy writing:

Prologue

Michele
King examined the crowd sitting in their chairs. Mutters among attendees
flooded through the university auditorium, cascading over the crowd packing the
room. She glanced over university students searching for a seat, taking note of
the older attendees who sought refuge on the floor.

It’s no
secret people are interested in paranormal subjects; the impressive sales of
her book only proved as much. But never before did she think giving a talk on
haunted objects would draw such a crowd. Everyone gave a fuss over haunted
houses, but very little about haunted objects.

She
smiled, the very first line of her speech coming to mind.

She
cleared her throat and looked out at the crowd. “We hear so much about haunted
houses these days. Stories of people enduring nightmares in their homes. Web
sites on the Internet devoted to such topics. But the truth is, haunted objects
can be just as important and just as scary as a haunted house.”

She
looked over the audience, hoping to see some interested looks from the
attendants. So much for the popularity of the paranormal; everyone looked
bored. A young girl, most likely a college student, blankly stared up at her
from her seat. An older man sat reading a book that wasn’t her book. Another
attendee, an elderly woman, only sat with her cell phone against her ear,
nodding her head.

Michele
pushed her glasses up on her nose and forced a smile. She folded her hands
together and started walking around on the temporary stage set up for the
occasion.

“We
know that houses can be haunted because of the energy left within them from
negative life experiences. Someone suffering from chronic depression. Physical
abuse. Suicides. They all leave an imprint within the space it is happening,
and, just as likely, they will leave an imprint on the objects around them. A
necklace worn by a woman who commits suicide is likely to cause its next wearer
to have bad luck. A key chain of the keys used for a car that was in an
accident could have bad mojo.” She shrugged, standing to look out at the crowd.
“Even a young woman’s doll.” She held up her finger. “Case in point.”

She
walked back to the podium and picked up the switch for the overhead projector.
She pushed on the switch and a picture of a doll appeared on the screen behind
the stage. “This is Julie, a doll that belonged to Diana Redburn of Pensacola,
Florida. Diana’s mother gave her the doll for her sixteenth birthday. It was a
cherished gift and Diana kept it with her everywhere she lived.” She licked her
lips, remembering this part of her book. “Unfortunately, Diana died in a ski
accident three years later. Her mother was sorely grieved and kept the doll
with her.”

She
turned around to look at the crowd again. “The thing about this doll is that it
talks.”

The
crowd chuckled.

Michele
smiled, nodding. “Yes. A talking doll. You pull a string and she says ‘I love
you, Mommy.’ And it was after Diana’s death that, from time to time, her mother
heard it say those same words. ‘I love you, Mommy.’”

Murmurs
erupted in the audience. Some of the younger attendees sat up, paying closer
attention.

Michele
held up a hand. “Scout’s honor! The doll talked. It said those same words it
always said, but this time, without anyone pulling on the string.”

She
turned around and clicked on the switch again. This time, a photo of a painting
appeared. “This is a painting a woman named Elizabeth bought,” she continued.
“It’s a reproduction of Flowers in a Vase
in a Stone Niche, by Johann Adalbert Angermayer. Lovely painting, really,
and Elizabeth thought so, too. Thought it would be perfect for her bedroom
wall.”

Michele
clicked the switch again. A picture of the bedroom the painting hung in
appeared, with a pool of blood on the floor beneath it. “Unfortunately, this is
what happened only days after she hung the painting in her room.” She clicked
the switch as she continued. “Here it is in the living room, with the same
result. And here again in the bathroom. More blood on Elizabeth’s good carpet.”

The
murmuring in the audience grew stronger. She turned to see people talking and
shifting around in their seats.

She
shrugged. “Elizabeth would have tried hanging it in the den to see if she got
the same result, but apparently ran out of good carpet cleaner to make the
stain go away.”

Some
people in the audience chuckled.

“Still,
it only went away when she removed the painting,” Michele continued. “She took
the painting back, but she asked about its previous owner. Apparently, a man
was killed while standing in front of the painting. Shot right through the heart.”
She sighed, shaking her head. “And this is only a sample of the kinds of
haunted objects out there. My book has plenty more. The point is, sometimes,
when things happen, bad things, they will leave something behind. Chances are
good that something will be on a coat worn by someone who was murdered or even
in a music box that starts playing at the same exact time its previous owner
died. Sometimes, the haunted objects are innocent, causing no trouble for
anyone at all. Sometimes, they can be creepy, such as for Diana’s mother and
the doll. Or they can wreck havoc in someone’s life. Inciting panic. Causing
terror.”

She
turned to click the switch again. A picture of a woman wearing a brooch
appeared.

“This
is Sally Meadows. That necklace you see her wearing was passed down to her from
her great-great-grandmother. Unfortunately, Grandma was wearing it at the time
she was murdered. Strangled to death by her husband. Every time Sally wore it,
she felt pressure around her neck and had trouble breathing.” She looked at the
audience. “At first, she thought it was her imagination, but as the feeling
continued, Sally started to think that maybe it had something to do with the
necklace she wore. Meanwhile, she had nightmares of being strangled to death,
of being murdered. The more she wore this brooch, the worse the nightmares got.
Finally, Sally got rid of the necklace, but she died that same day of
accidental strangulation.”

Murmuring
sounds returned among the audience. When they quieted down, Michele turned and
pushed on the switch again. “And now we come to this little dandy. A music box
that played by itself. The owner thought nothing of it until he started hearing
voices and seeing a little girl walking around in his home. Next thing we know,
the man hears the music playing while up on a high ladder. He turns around to
see the ghostly little girl behind him in the room. It startles him so much, he
loses his footing and falls, breaking his neck.”

She
started walking around on the stage. “It was only recently that Time magazine did an article about
haunted objects. They covered all the usual bases – describing incidents in
which a haunted object caused some disaster or another – and touched on the
history of haunted objects causing natural disasters. At the same time, the
author of the article had a tone of skepticism and pretty much ended up
discrediting the idea that any object, any item, could indeed possess enough
negative energy to be haunted. Or a reason for bad luck.” She shrugged.
“Unfortunately, we’ve a long way to go before it is accepted as a legitimate
reason behind a haunting.”

She
turned to look at them. “Skeptics like to use a whole host of excuses to
explain things away. Imagination. Mental problems. Reflections from somewhere
else or even bad lighting! There’s no room in their closed-up minds for the
possibility that anything at all could be haunted, or even posses the bad
energy associated with a haunted object. They want to explain away everything
to think they are in a safe world that can be controlled and understood. But
this will never change the fact that events that cannot be explained still
happened. A painting that causes a pool of blood to appear on the floor. A
brooch necklace that causes the wearer to feel as though she is being strangled.
Coincidence?” She shrugged. “You be the judge.”

The
crowd stood from their chairs and started clapping. Michele smiled at them and
held out her hands. She blew kisses and nodded at the people giving her a
standing ovation.

“Thank
you,” she said. “Thank you so much.” She smiled and nodded at the crowd as they
continued clapping. Then she called out, “If you have any questions at all,
you’ll find my book and business cards on the table in the foyer. Please, feel
free to visit my group’s web site. You’ll find more stories and photos of
haunted objects.”

A
teenaged boy stood from his seat and followed his friends out of the
auditorium. He walked past the large white sign advertising the event. “Author
Michele King Discusses Haunted Objects” it read. Included on this sign was her
photo, as well as the cover photo of her book.

One
of the friends nodded at the boy. “Hey, Danny, let’s get something to eat,” he
said.

“Man,
we’re gonna miss ya,” his friend said, clapping his hand on Danny’s shoulder as
he shook his head.

“Shoulda
had a going-away party instead of going to some spook talk,” his other friend
teased.

Danny
laughed. “Tell me about it! My last night in Portland, and this what I pick to do!” He shook his head, looking back at the
sign. “Big fat waste of time.”

Haunted objects may not get as much attention as haunted houses,
despite the success of movies such as Annabelle and the 1980 film, The
Changeling. But I was inspired by the thought of combining a haunted object
with a haunted house and felt compelled to write a story about what might
happen to a family living in such a home. Imprint was the result of that idea
and I am very pleased that my 2008 NaNoWriMo story is now a 2017 novel. The
book is currently available in electronic form but the print will come out in
the near future.

What’s interesting is that we actually received a free piano from a
friend this year. The piano in my novel is also haunted. It’s kinda funny
that we got a piano the same year my novel with a haunted piano in it is
published! But at least our piano is not haunted – at least, I don’t think it
is! I hope not. There’s enough paranormal activity that’s been going on in my
house, thank you. I’ve even been told there is a portal here! Hm, maybe that’s
another idea for a novel to write someday.

Many thanks to the following people for their time and assistance to help
me make my latest novel, Imprint, into the book that it is today. Thank you to
all of my friends and family who sounded off their thoughts about things for
this book; thanks also to LK Hunsaker, Kathy Gereau, Tamara Bates and John
Heasly for specific kinds of info and for feedback; thank you to Denise
Bartlett and Charlotte Holley at Gypsy Shadow Publishing; and, finally, thank
you to everyone for their support for this book.

Here is the book’s blurb:

A house never forgets. And for Maureen Boyd, neither does
a vengeful ghost lurking within what she hopes to be a dream home for her new
husband and children. After her son’s house-flipping company loses out on a
deal, Maureen’s husband buys the house, and Maureen hopes that living closer to
her son will help salvage their distant relationship. But living in a haunted
house brings up dark family secrets her husband would rather keep buried, plus
opening an old wound that Maureen’s long-distant relative could never
forgive.

About Me

Writing by the name of Dawn Colclasure (my maiden name). Author of books for children as well as poetry books, writing books and books on the paranormal. I occasionally collaborate on books with Martha Jette or Jennifer Wilson.

Former editor and publisher of Burning the Midnight Oil Book Zine. Book reviewer for Night Owl Reviews.